More Indianapolis Talk Changes
October 31, 2007
Just a couple weeks after Emmis announced plans to move 1070 WIBC to 93.1 FM, the rest of the market has begun reacting. Cumulus has announced that it will suspend its current talk programming in mid-November to join 93.1 with a Christmas Music format through the holidays.
Chris Wheat, Indianapolis Market Manager for Cumulus told the Indianapolis Star:
“We haven’t determined what we’re going to do with it yet. The options range from tweaking it to changing it.”
“Sean Hannity can’t carry the radio station,” Wheat said. “One of the glaring things I noticed when I arrived is that there’s absolutely no local content from a news and information standpoint.”
WWFT previously was Contemporary Christian WISG “93.9 The Song”.
Meanwhile, crosstown 950 WXLW, which will lose its ESPN Radio affiliation and branding to 1070 once WIBC moves to FM, has registered XL950.com.
WCKG Update: Steve Dahl & Bulls Find New Homes
October 27, 2007
In Sundays edition of the Chicago Tribune, Phil Rosenthal reports that Steve Dahl will make his move to mornings on WJMK “104.3 Jack-FM“.
To promote Dahl’s move to so-called Jack FM, WCKG plans to pre-empt nearly its entire programming schedule with “Best of Steve Dahl” clips, beginning Monday night. Dahl also is set to continue to do his afternoon show on the station through Friday.
Additionally, the Chicago Bulls will move their game broadcasts from WCKG to WMVP “ESPN Radio 1000” because of the pending flip. The Bulls had left WMVP for WCKG before the 2006-07 season, but after one year will move back.
Broadcast Buzz 10/25/07
October 25, 2007
Today’s RadioInsight Headlines
New York - 1050 WEPN “1050 ESPN” goes local in overnights as the station moves Gordon Damer to 2-6am. Damer has been with the station as a reporter since its debut in 2001 and also hosts New Jersey Nets pre and post-game shows on YES Network.
Hartford - WPHH Flips To Modern Rock
New York - Sam Greenfield and Armstrong Williams have exited 1600 WWRL’s morning show. The station airs Air America programming the remainder of the day.
National - Emmis again urged to go private
Columbus - Tony Florentino Joins WSNY (Sunny 95)/Columbus as PD
Orlando - WTKS-FM/Orlando Midday Host Burke Arrested for DUI
San Diego - Fires test local radio’s mettle
Portland - McDonald Named SVP/GM Of CBS Radio/Portland
Los Angeles - Radio Begins Relief Efforts For SoCal Fire Victims
National - Laura Ingraham Joins Fox News Channel
Rochester - Entercom/Rochester Ups Susan Munn to VP/General Mgr.
Baltimore - Key Orioles radio ratings improve
Utica - EMF Closes on WRCK-FM/Utica-Rome for $1.22 Million
Seattle - Operator of Snohomish County station files to add another one
Blogger Buzz
Hear 2.0 - Why the Arbitron diary isn’t fair to satellite or Internet radio
Infinite Dial - Firing Live Ammunition At Satellite
Inside Music Media - Panic in the Music Industry
MTV - OiNK Raid Raises The Question: What Risks Are You Really Taking When Downloading Music?
Rob Roseen - Paragon Youth Radio Study
WPHH Hartford Flips To Modern Rock
October 25, 2007
At 10:00am, Clear Channel Urban WPHH “Power 104.1″ flipped to 90s-based Alternative as “FM 104-1“.
The station’s first hour includes:
Blur - Song 2
The Clash - This Is Radio Clash
U2 - Elevation
Violent Femmes - Gone Daddy Gone
Smashing Pumpkins - Today
Sponge - Plowed
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
Foo Fighters - This Is A Call
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Get Up, Stand Up
Beck - Where It’s At
The Killers - Read My Mind
Social Distortion - I Was Wrong
Stereo MC’s - Connected
The Offspring - Come Out And Play
Weezer - Hash Pipe
Presentation and imaging is identical to sister WRFF “Radio 104.5″ Philadelphia which was patterned after the old “Radio 104.1″ format that aired on the 104.1 frequency from 1995 to 2003. The format has done well in the PPM market, surging into the top 5 within two months after launch. Clear Channel has since launched variations of the format in Cincinnati and Los Angeles.
“This is not going to be the lame old-school radio that everyone has grown tired of,” said Operations Manager Todd Thomas. “This station is about music for adults 25-34… period.”
He added, “This audience is extremely passionate about the music. A lot of DJ talk and stations hyping themselves all the time is just not something that people want to hear. The listeners are begging us (radio) to stop the chatter and just play good music. That’s where fm104one comes in. Radio listeners deserve what they really want.” (Radio-Online)
Broadcast Buzz 10/24/07
October 24, 2007
Today’s RadioInsight Headlines
Summer Arbitrons - Norfolk, Raleigh/Durham, Greensboro/Winston-Salem, Richmond, Greenville/Spartanburg, Tulsa, Knoxville, Harrisburg, Charleston, Columbia, York, Chattanooga, Lansing
National - CBS Radio has announced a major restructuring of its corporate management. President/CEO Dan Mason will assume direct oversight of all stations in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. The rest of the markets will report to Scott Herman, who’s title changes from EVP/Eastern Region to EVP/Operations. All other regional management positions have been eliminated. Lisa Decker becomes Market Manager for Seattle and Portland, OR, while Don Bouloukos becomes Market Manager for New York and GM of WFAN. Additionally, Michael Weiss joins CBS from Interep as President of Sales.
Update - Yesterday we reported on the Satellite Radio ratings released by Arbitron. We should note that Opie & Anthony were suspended from XM for the final third of the book.
Philadelphia - Opie: We’ll Work For Free In Philly
Philadelphia - Kidd Chris bound for AM slot?
New York - Poleman Re-Ups With Clear Channel/New York
National - Cumulus to Use Portable People Meter in Eight Markets
Atlanta - 99X’s 15th anniversary
Chicago - Under new owners, station’s format goes half-Spanish, half-Catholic talk
Cincinnati - Pistol Pete Moves Down The Dial
Columbus - WMRN Announces Move To Columbus
Honolulu - Older demographic helps KHUI-FM gain
Blogger Buzz
Breakfast Blog - Country Does Well In (The First Ever!) Spring ARB Satellite Ratings
Dan Kelley - KBZT: Its More Than The Music
Hear 2.0 - Arbitron’s shaky take on satellite radio ratings
High Fidelity Radio - Pushback on HD Radio in AM: Citadel Turns off Nighttime AM
Infinite Dial - Howard Stern — Profit Machine
Inside Music Media - Satellite Radio Is Radio
Fred Jacobs - Sometimes, it’s NOT about the music
Mel Taylor - Local Media ponders it’s Web plan.
Broadcast Buzz 10/23/07
October 23, 2007
Today’s RadioInsight Headlines
Philadelphia - 94.1 WYSP has dropped the syndicated Opie & Anthony show effective immediately. While rumors of this move have been circulating for a few weeks, it seems as though it was expedited following a segment on this morning’s show which called PD John Cook “a wussy boy” for not communicating with them. WYSP will go with jockless music for the time being, although it is expected that afternooner Kidd Chris will eventually shift to mornings. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
National - Arbitron released the first National Satellite Radio ratings data for the Spring 2007 book. XM has a total cume just over 10.3 Million, while Sirius is at 6.5 Million. However, Sirius “Howard 100″ is the most listened to satellite radio channel. Sirius’ total top 5 is “Howard 100″ at 1.22 Million, CHR “Sirius Hits 1″ 653,200, “Howard 101″ 502,000, 60 “New Country” 455,900, 8 “Big 80’s” 450,000. XM’s CHR “20 on 20″ leads the way with 1.05 Million, Hot AC “Flight 26″ at 713,700, “70s on 7″ at 654,100, “80s on 8″ at 648,900, and “60s on 6″ with 619,600. Opie & Anthony’s “Virus 202″ are low in Cume but doing rather well in Average Quarter Hour. Here’s the whole report in PDF courtesy of Radio-Online.
San Diego - The damage by the fires in California has cost NPR Talk 89.5 KPBS-FM its transmitter. In order to keep KPBS’ local news staff on the San Diego airwaves, Lincoln Financial Media’s 94.9 KBZT has temporarily dropped its Modern Rock programming to air KPBS’ programming. More on the local fire impact at SDRadio.net.
New York - SportsCenter anchor Brian Kenny joins “ESPN 1050″ for middays as Max Kellerman’s co-host. (Newsday)
Portland, ME - Nassau Broadcasting confirms that Active Rock simulcast 104.7 WHXQ/106.7 WHXR will be the Portland area affiliates of its pending WEEI Sports network. 1470 WLAM will also make the change from ESPN Radio to WEEI’s network. Sister station 870 WLVP will keep ESPN Radio until its contract expires next spring. (Sun-Journal)
Chicago - Report: WCKG to flip to Spanish
Tampa - Nick Sanders to Exit WPOI/Tampa in Downsizing Move
Albany - Trustco’s McCormick part of group buying WTMM, 1300 AM
Boston - WTKK to WRKO: We don’t understand your “conduct”
Blogger Buzz
John Gorman - Kevin Martin: This Is Your Life
Hear 2.0 - In the shadow of the San Diego wildfires
Infinite Dial - Arbitron Makes It Official: Most Listened To Satellite Channels
Infinite Dial - Should A Radio Station Web Site Stream Immediately?
Inside Music Media - NPR is Not Radio
Dave Lange - New Rock Music for 25-54s
Liberal Talk Radio - Air America inks 11 new affiliates
Orbitcast - Is the NAB ceding to the Sirius-XM merger?
Rob Roseen - Jock Jobs in Jeopardy
Salt Lake & Detroit Follow-Ups
October 22, 2007
We reported last week on the pending change at AAA KXRV Salt Lake City to Country. As you can see above, the new format’s website now has a logo to go along with it. A station insider has told RadioInsight that the change to Country will occur within the next two weeks. We will note that Clear Channel also registered “MyRock1057.com” last week which forwards to the Country website.
In Detroit, earlier this month CBS launched a simulcast of Sports 1270 WXYT on now 97.1 WXYT-FM. At the time the plan was to brand the stations as “Detroit’s Sports Powerhouse”. Now it looks as though another repackaging could be in order. CBS has registered the following domains for the stations, none of which are active yet:
Broadcast Buzz 10/22/07
October 22, 2007
Today’s RadioInsight Headlines
Top 25 Ratings Thoughts:
Phoenix - The big story is the News/Talk surge at Clear Channel’s 550 WFYI up 3.9-6.0 to take the top spot and Emmis 92.3 KTAR-FM 3.1-3.8 good for 6th. KTAR split its programming to News/Talk on FM and Sports on 620 AM in January. The Sports half registered a 2.1, which gives the pair a 5.9 up from the 4.2 the station got in its final book before the split. The launch of Rhythmic CHR “101.5 Jamz” in June has had an instant effect on its competition. While KZON’s new format only debuted at a 2.0 12+, its competitors took big hits. Rhythmic CHR “Power 98.3″ KKFR was down .8, while Mainstream CHR “Kiss 104.7″ KZZP dropped .9 to 3.4. Spanish Urban KVIB also took a .5 hit.
Portland - At first glance, the 2.5 share drop at Clear Channel AC KKCW “K103″ would look devastating. The wound in this case was self-inflicted as the company shifted the broad AC into a more current/recurrent direction with the launch of Oldies on “Kool 105.9″ KQOL, which debuted at 1.5. The big winner was CBS Country 98.7 KUPL, which rose 4.8-5.9 to take the top spot.
National - NAB Asks FCC to Lift Ban, Ease Ownership Restrictions
Traverse City - WSRT-FM Fires Two for Filling Out Arbitron Diaries
Boston - Carr Appeals Ruling, Wants to Work for ”His Choice”
Philadelphia - Radio Bcast of Phillies/Rockies Playoff Game Draws TV-Sized Numbers
National - New members named to country DJ and Radio Halls of Fame
National - Syndication One Adds Yolanda Adams, Ricky Smiley Shows
National - Rick Boucher Op-Ed on Sirius-XM merger, goes unchallenged
Atlanta - 94.9 The Bull can’t kick Kicks
Orlando - Marks Upped To WLOQ Orlando VP/GM
Detroit - Home improvement radio show may be unplugged
Milwaukee - After morning show shuffle, WKTI-FM’s ratings sag dramatically
Hartford - Gois Broadcasting Adds to Hartford AMs for $2.6 Million
Atlanta - Urban stations, talk radio remain tops
St. Louis - Big League to Return KRFT-AM/St. Louis to Sports
Cincinnati - Five stations see major growth in summer ratings
San Francisco - Radio Waves
National - Local native becomes King of radio consultants
New York - Both sports radio stations vote straight Torre
Long Island - Morey Launches New Latin Music Radio Station
Northeast Radio Watch - More AM Uncertainty in NYC, Boston
Blogger Buzz
Lee Abrams - MORE COUNTRY MUSIC…RANDOM THOUGHTS AND THE BIG MILLION DOLLAR OPPORTUNITY IN THE RECORD BUSINESS
Chicagoland Radio & Media - WCKG: All the questions, no answers
Harker Research - Pimping for PPM
Hear 2.0 - Radio on the iPod in 2008
Wired - As HD Radio Sniffs Success, Critics Question the Formula
Broadcast Buzz 10/19/07
October 19, 2007
Today’s RadioInsight Headlines
Chicago - “I obviously made a mistake in replacing Melissa a year ago, and the ratings have suffered.” - Darren Davis, VP Programming Clear Channel Chicago. Rarely will executives make statements like that, but in this case Melissa Forman returns to mornings at WLIT Chicago in place of the syndicated “Waking Up With Whoopi”. Forman will air live from 5:30-8:30am and then voicetrack afternoons from 4-7pm. (Chicago Sun-Times)
Miami - Salem Communications has purchased Black Talk 1080 WTPS from Radio-One for $12.3 Million. Salem has already taken over the station under an LMA and has flipped the station to Christian Preaching as WMCU simulcasting sister 1360 WKAT. (RadioInk)
San Diego - Delana Bennet joins Country KUUS “US 95.7″ as MD/Middays. (SDRadio.net)
Ratings Commentary - Boston, Pittsburgh
National - FCC Extends NCE Filing Window
National - Denver Leads the HD Radio Rollout
National - Dan Patrick Joins Sports Illustrated
Raleigh/Durham - WRDU applies to move and lower power…again
Milwaukee - WRIT drops its morning show
Cincinnati - Alan Cutler Replacing The Big Dog On HOMER
Philadelphia - Andy Bloom Takes Vacant WIP-AM/Philadelphia PD Post
Los Angeles - Talk show host Michael Jackson back on the air
Columbus - RadiOhio Elevates WBNS PD Taylor to Dir./Programming
North Platte - Oldies radio to become ESPN sport talk
Ohio Media Watch - Clearing Out On Friday
Blogger Buzz
Audio Graphics - Why Measuring Success Is Getting More Difficult
Broadcast Law Blog - Push to Complete Multiple Ownership Overhaul By the End of the Year
Inside Music Media - Media Deregulation: More Is Less
Mel Taylor - Radio Ink Forecast 2008
Rob Roseen - CHR Contradiction
Broadcast Buzz 10/18/07
October 18, 2007
Today’s RadioInsight Headlines
Quick Ratings Thoughts:
Dallas - Amazing surge by Urban KKDA “K104″ 3.9 to 5.6 to become #1 overall. Variety Hits KJKK “100.3 Jack-FM” is slowly rising, now up to a 2.8. Meanwhile Country KSCS tumbles down to a 2.6. Clear Channel’s Americana KZPS “Lonestar 92.5″ drops 2.5-1.7. Rimshot Regional Mexican KNOR continues to show some growth up to a 1.9.
Minneapolis/St. Paul - Classic Rock KQRS stays at #1 at 8.2. No major shifts other than Citadel Gold AC trimulcast WGVX/WGVY/WGVZ “Love 105″ debuts at 1.5, way up from the .8 Alternative “Drive 105″ got in its final full book in the winter.
Denver - Rhythmic CHR KQKS “KS 107.5″ is up .9 to 6.8 to retain the top spot ahead of News/Talk KOA at 6.2. Regional Mexican KXPK surges to third 3.9-5.7. Another nice jump for Alternative KTCL 2.4-3.7. Country KWLI takes a full share plunge 2.6 to 1.6 as does Smooth Jazz KJCD 3.2 to 2.2.
Pittsburgh - Classic Rock WDVE retains the top spot at 9.8, 1.8 ahead of #2 KDKA. Airing the same programming, but splitting for different commercials works wonders for Keymarket’s “Froggy” network across the market. If combined 94.9 WOGG, 98.3 WOGI, 103.5 WOGH, and 104.3 WOGF would be at 5.9, just .1 behind fellow Country WDSY at 6.0. FM Talker WTZN “93.7 The Zone” registers a .9 as it fades into history.
Cincinnati - News/Talk are the bookends in the market. Perennial powerhouse WLW at the top at 10.6, FM Talker 96.5 WFTK at 0.7. John Kiesewetter has more in the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Buffalo - News/Talk WBEN regains the top spot from now #2 Country WYRK. WBEN was up 1.4 to 10.0, while WYRK dropped 2.3 to 9.2. Lots of other roller coaster numbers you’re used to seeing in medium and small markets. In the past four books, Urban WBLK has gone 6.2-7.0-6.4-7.8. A noteworthy increase at Variety Hits WBUF “92.9 Jack-FM” as its up to 4.7 after three straight books at 3.7.
Austin - 1600 KOKE drops Air America for Regional Mexican following the station’s sale from Border Media Partners to Jose Garcia. (Liberal Talk Radio)
Charleston - Crashing WAVE: The real story behind the rise and fall of one of the country’s most-celebrated radio stations
National - FCC Chair pushing to relax media ownership rules
Baltimore - Ed Norris’ radio show zooms to top in ratings
International - JACK fm launches in the UK
Indianapolis - Is 3 a crowd in sports talk?
National - Rate The Music, Critical Mass Media Ink Partnership
National - Howard Stern still most popular search, O&A quickly on the rise
Los Angeles -